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Recent Posts
- A Few Words On Christopher Hitchens’ Fondness for Noam Chomsky
- Bin Laden, Willful Destruction of Evidence, and the Rule of Law
- Personal Reflections on Knowledge, Writing and ‘Eloquence’
- Reflections on France’s Ban on the ‘Burqa’: An American Muslim’s Perspective
- Rolling Stone Special Report: War Crimes in Afghanistan
- Qur’an Burning, Violence and the Political Instrumentalization of Islam
- Reflections on Pakistan’s World Cup Loss: A Nation Impervious to Defeat
- Islam’s View on War and Terrorism: A Survey of the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions
- An Introduction to Islamic Doctrine: A Young Muslim’s Perspective
- Were Imam Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah So Different, After All?
- Uncritical Reliance on Authority
- Rushdie Revisited and False Liberalism
- Salman Rushdie: A Question of Literary Genius or Family Loyalty?
- Selfless Love: A Young Muslim’s Perspective
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Why I Chose to Write About Beauty
My strong preference is not to personalize my public writings, but because my recent article, “Physical Beauty and Its Effect Upon Human Psychology: A New Yorker’s Perspective,” appears to have generated considerable interest as to my motives for writing it, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Islam
2 Comments
One in Four Humans on Earth will be Muslim by 2030
Several days ago I wrote a piece in which I sought to explain why blasphemy is a source of such profound offense to Muslims. I noted that Islam is the single most powerful unifying force in the Muslim world and … Continue reading
Posted in Islam, Pakistan, Politics
Tagged Identity, Islam, Muslim population, Religion, Tribalism
2 Comments
False Conservatism in Modern Islam and a Case for Moderation
In recent years I’ve come to believe that a large percentage of “conservative” Muslims living in the West suffer from what psychologists would term cognitive dissonance. That is, a psychic state in which there exists a disharmony between what one articulates … Continue reading
Posted in Islam, Law, Politics
6 Comments
Musharraf Arrest Warrant Issued
AP reported that Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Court issued an arrest warrant today for Pervez Musharraf and his alleged role in the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf devotees appear unable to come grips with the fact that the former … Continue reading
Posted in Pakistan, Politics
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Pakistan: The State of the Union
Following an absence of more than ten years, I returned to my ethnic homeland of Pakistan in late 2010. In the several months leading up to my visit and thereafter, I became increasingly interested in Pakistani politics and understanding the … Continue reading
Posted in Pakistan, Politics
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Chasing Muslims Out of Islam
I was walking down 6th Avenue last week and noticed something not altogether uncommon: a Muslim man walking alongside what appeared to be his wife; the man was clean-shaven and dressed in slim-fitting Western trousers while the woman was wearing … Continue reading
Posted in Islam, Pakistan
3 Comments
What Blasphemy Means to Muslims
One of the most confounding tendencies for non-Muslims living in the West to apprehend is why some Muslims react with such vehemence, and even violence, when the two most sacred symbols of Islam—the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)–are … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Islam, Politics
Tagged Blasphemy, Islam, Prophet Muhammad, Qur'an Burning, Terry Jones
2 Comments
An Introduction to the Israel-Palestine Conflict
In an effort to escape European anti-semitism and create a land in which the Jewish people could preserve a cultural and religious heritage that was slowly fading, European Jews began emigrating en masse to Palestine in the late 19th century. … Continue reading
